This Day In History, December 29th.
Five Historical Events That Happened on December 29th
Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket is slain at Canterbury Cathedral by King Henry II supporters in 1170.
The first American YMCA begins in Boston, Massachusetts in 1851.
The Wounded Knee Massacre occurs in South Dakota in 1890, with the US Army killing between 150 and 300 Lakota Indians.
1937: The Irish Free State renames itself "Ireland" and declares independence.
Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing 101 passengers and crew members.
1170: Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket is assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was slain at Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170, by four knights loyal to King Henry II. Becket had been embroiled in a long-running feud with the monarch over the scope of the church's authority, and his assassination stunned Europe and led to his consecration as a saint. T.S. Eliot's drama "Murder in the Cathedral" notably depicts the incident, and it has been the subject of several other works of literature, art, and film.
1851: The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
John C. Calhoun was a well-known American politician who served as Vice President under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. In 1832, he became the first Vice President in American history to resign from office in order to serve in the United States Senate. Calhoun was a staunch supporter of state rights and slavery, and he was a pivotal participant in the 1830s nullification crisis, which pitted Southern states against the federal government over tariffs and state autonomy. Calhoun's political ideology influenced the formation of the South and the nation as a whole, and he remains a contentious and divided figure in American history.
1890: The Wounded Knee Massacre takes place in South Dakota, where between 150 and 300 Lakota Indians are killed by the US Army.
The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. The event involved the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army and a tribe of Lakota Sioux who were being pushed into reservations by the government. The Lakota were conducting a ghost dance, a religious event they thought would aid in the reintroduction of buffalo and the restoration of their way of life. When the soldiers were sent to disarm the Lakota, a scuffle broke out, and the soldiers opened fire on the Lakota, killing between 150 and 300 men, women, and children. The incident was a terrible and horrific example of the tensions and violence that existed between Native Americans and the United States government throughout the nineteenth century.
1937: The Irish Free State changes its name to "Ireland" and becomes a republic.
The Irish Free State changed its name to "Ireland" and became a republic on December 29, 1937. The action came after the passage of a new constitution earlier that year, which established Ireland as a sovereign, independent state. The function of the British monarch as head of state was also removed in the new constitution, and a president was formed as the symbolic leader of the Irish state. The shift represented Ireland's ambition to entirely disassociate itself from its colonial history and forge its own identity as a modern, democratic republic. Ireland is now a member of the European Union, with a thriving culture and economy.
1972: An Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing 101 people.
Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades on December 29, 1972, killing 101 of the 176 passengers on board. The flight was on its way from New York City to Miami when its landing gear indication system failed. The crew were so focused with troubleshooting that they neglected to detect that the autopilot had been turned off. As a result, the jet progressively fell and crashed into the Everglades' marshy environment. The accident prompted reforms in aviation safety measures, including as the creation of crew resource management tools to increase communication and decision-making among flight crews.